Most things get better with age — even “The Bachelor.”
Gerry (pronounced like “Gary”) Turner, 72, from Indiana, is ABC’s first “Golden Bachelor.”
The senior-level spin-off of the smash-hit dating show will offer a fresh start for the widowed grandfather of two.
“After more than 20 years of fostering young love on ‘The Bachelor,’ ‘The Bachelorette,’ and ‘Bachelor in Paradise,’ ‘The Golden Bachelor’ showcases a whole new kind of love story — one for the golden years,” ABC said in a press release at the time of the announcement.
“The Golden Bachelor,” which will air this fall on Mondays at 10 p.m., centers on “one hopeless romantic” who will be “given a second chance at love in the search for a partner with whom to share the sunset years of life.”
“It’s never too late to fall in love again,” Turner told Good Morning America.
Turner was married to his high school sweetheart, Toni, for 43 years. They had two daughters, Angie and Jenny, as well as two granddaughters, Charlee and Payton.
Toni suddenly fell ill and died in 2017, just six weeks after retiring. It was Turner’s daughters who encouraged him to find love again on the show.
“She got robbed,” Turner said. “Every day that goes by, that’s the thought I have.”
But he knows his wife would be “rooting” for him to continue on.
“I have her picture on a dresser in my closet,” Turner said. “Every morning I give her the nod, ‘So what do you think about this?’ For a while it was like I was having a hard time figuring out if she would be OK. But we always told each other, when one of us goes, we want the other one to be happy.”
The retired restaurateur and loving father and grandfather stays busy “hosting barbecues, playing pickleball, cheering on his favorite Chicago sports teams, four-wheeling and spending time with friends and family at restaurants and local haunts,” according to Variety.
Turner wants someone who matches his active energy.
“I’d love it if I found a partner who was high energy, someone who’s fairly competitive, that they enjoy sports,” he told GMA. “Someone that maybe plays pickleball, someone that maybe plays golf.”
Turner has the responsibility of being the face of the latest golden spinoff, but he appears more excited than nervous, especially with his family supporting him.
“I think my thoughts always go to the way I’ve done things: Don’t give up. There’s always possibilities.”
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